Magical Melody: Novel
by Mewlon
Summary: After the death of their mother, Jack and his twin Jill have to look for a new place to live. With the very little money they carry they set out for the Exciting Ranch Plan. The twins got more than their bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

-1_Yahoo! New fic and this one is made by the help of my friend/sister. I've been playing Harvest Moon: Magical Melody a lot and I hope this fic will be okay for all of you to read. Anyway, I own none of the characters. They belong to Natsume. The personalities of Jack and Jill were made by yours truly and her "sis"._

**Magical Melody of Life**

**Prologue**

Rain fell from the darken skies above. A low, chilly wind blew across the small, plain area. The fall season was quiet throughout all of the land. A couple of figures stood near a small grave. The earth beneath it was still fresh. A young man looked all round him to see the other gravestones in the small cemetery they were in. He looked back over to the young girl he had been standing next to. He moved a bit of his brown hair out of his eyes as he tried not to let any tears escape his chestnut colored eyes.

Meanwhile, the girl next to him looked up at the sky. Water fell from her brown eyes. The boy didn't know if she was crying or if it was because of the rain. He slowly approached her and placed his hand on top of her hand. The young woman just closed her eyes as she took a hold of his hand. The young man looked back at the gravestone that read, "Here lays Annabel. A great angler, but more importantly, a great mother of two. She will be missed by her children."

"Excuse me, Jack and Jill?" an old, timid voice spoke to them.

"Y-yes?" Jack, the young man, replied.

"I'm sorry to interrupt both you and your sister, but I think I have a need to say this right now." The old man took off his black, top hat. "My name is William and I'm the caretaker of your mother's will. If we can leave and head on to your own home, I can discuss the details of the will."

"All right…we'll go," Jack said as he looked over to Jill, his sister. "Jill, let's go now."

"Yeah…" Jill replied with a soft sadden tone.

The twins walked away from their mother's grave and headed off towards their home. Once they were home, Jack took off his black jacket. Water dripped from its sleeves and created a small puddle near the coat hanger. Jill took her jacket off. Part of her brown hair stuck to her face once she took off her jacket. William entered the home and took off his coat as well. He walked over to the dining table and sat down. Both Jack and Jill sat down on opposite sides while they awaited the details of the will.

"As you both now," William spoke as he took out a white piece of paper from his suit, "your mother, Annabel, wrote a will recently. In this will, it shows that everything she had now belongs to both of you. So, congratulations on that."

"That's good," Jack said, trying to smile at the man.

"However," William added in as he looked at the paper, "it is said that your mother's business is a fishing business. So far, I am not so sure if you two are capable of taking care of that job. It was by your mother's concern for you to give you an option: sell her company over to Hutchinson's Fishing Inc."

"What?!" Jack let out as he jumped from his seat.

"It is written on her will. She didn't want you to suffer, but perhaps you should read her letter if you want to know more about it." William handed over the letter and will over to Jack. Jack opened the letter and began to read it.

_My darling children: Jack and Jill,_

_When you read this letter, I have all ready passed away. I know our lives were not that great and fishing didn't bring in much money to leave you much, but I did try my best. I just hope that when I leave this world, you two wouldn't be angry with me. Either way, I wanted to say many things to you both. I love you dearly and I am so glad you didn't leave me like your father did._

_That is why I give you this option. I don't want you both to be tied to this old fishing business. So if you feel like fishing isn't your thing, then please sell it. Use the money you get from the business to make your own business and live a much happier and safer life. Don't keep the business or be fishermen if you are only doing this to keep me in memory. What I want is for you two to create what you always wanted to do: to be your own executives. Please…understand the decisions I've made._

_Love,_

_Your mother, Annabel_

"Mom…" Jack said softly as he closed the paper. Jill let out a small sniffle after she looked away from the letter.

"Jack…Jill…" William said softly. "You two have to make this decision. It is up to you to decide what to do. In addition, with that, I'll take off. You can come to be at any time to tell me what is it that you want me to do. I'll have the paperwork ready. Please, take care of yourselves."

With that, William got up from his seat, got his coat, and then left the house. Jill began to cry once William had closed the door. Jack turned to his sister and hugged her tightly. They didn't know what was in store for them, but Jack promised that he would take care of his sister no matter what. Finally, his decision came to his mind.

**End Prologue**

**Chapter One: 2 Seasons Later…**

Two seasons had passed since Annabel had passed away. Both twins had a bit of trouble in the beginning, but soon they had managed. Jack had sold the business and the property to Hutchinson's Fishing Inc. During that time, Jill managed to pack only the necessary things they needed. Most of the things they couldn't carry, so they sold their belongings off.

Once they had managed to sell as much as they can, they took whatever money they had gotten and began on their journey for a new home. The twins had gone through two cities in which they were very uncomfortable with. So now, the twins were stuck on the road once more. Jack looked down at the dirt ground. His blue jean overalls were dirty from mud, dust, and other muck. He wiped the sweat off from his brow using the back of his hand.

"Man, it has gotten hot," he said, "right Jill? Jill?"

Jack looked around to look for his sister. Surely, she was way behind him. Jill walked in a strange way, in which she was trying to avoid keeping her feet on the ground, or at least try not to dirty her shoes. Jack just let out a sigh and shook his head. Jill snarled a bit as she approached her brother. She took off his sunglasses.

"You know," she said, "it isn't easy not to dirty such cute shoes."

"Uh-huh?" Jack replied. "You know if you actually cared about what our future holds as much as your own shoes we'd be probably working at something by now."

"It's not my fault you're so picky with who we work for. I mean, if you let me work at that restaurant back in that city, with all those cute guys, we'd be working all right."

"They were staring at your chest the entire time! Maybe if you didn't wear only a white shirt with the shortest shorts ever, you'd not have so many people staring at you."

"Pah!" Jill scoffed. "I know I'm too cute for my own self. At least I can make friends, unlike you, Mr. Lone Wolf. Your dirty overalls with no shirt on, says 'I'm too poor for a shirt.'"

"Is all you ever do is complain?" Jack asked with a spiteful tone of voice.

"Shut up!" Jill shouted as she tried to hit her brother.

"Please, if there is an entity up in the sky; give me a sign of what to do next!" Jack said as he looked up at the sky.

As if on cue, a paper that was drifting through the wind suddenly blew over to the twins. The piece of paper hit Jill square on the face. She squirmed a bit to take off the paper from her face then looked at it. _What the heck is this? _She thought as she looked at the small drawing of some man wearing a top hat, mustache, and a red overcoat.

"What is that?" Jack asked.

"I don't know," Jill replied, "it's like some sort of an advertisement."

"What's it say?"

"It says…" Jill replied.

_Dear Youthful Dreamers,_

_Are you down on your luck? Perhaps you wish to pursue a happy and joyous life. If this is what you seek, then come over to our small town of Flower Bud Town, where you can pursue a career as an entrepreneur. Our new program, the Exciting Ranch Plan has quite the opening for an opportunity like this. Therefore, if you are looking for a happy life, then perhaps this could be your chance. We await you to join us._

_Mayor Theodore_

"What was this all about?" Jill asked as she stared blankly into the letter. "Who'd want to be a farmer?"

"Sounds interesting," Jack replied.

"Are you kidding?!" Jill spat as she placed her hands on her hips. "There is no way I'll do farming! We don't even know the first thing about it!"

"I know, but I did read some books on it. With the very little knowledge I have, perhaps we can do decent."

"No!" Jill glared at her brother.

"Listen, Jill," Jack said in a stern voice, "we're down to our last pennies here. Mom's company plus our stuff didn't give us much. This may be our only chance left…let's make the best out of it. Besides, this is the cheapest place to live, from what I heard."

Jill looked at the ground. She shuffled her feet a bit before she let out a big sigh.

"Fine, we'll try this," she replied.

"All right! Thanks, Jilly!" Jack hugged his sister tightly.

"Oof! Not so tight!"

"Anyway, we should head off to Flower Bud Town!"

The twins continued their journey through the roughest of times. Winter had approached them, making it even more difficult on the twins. However, nothing could break their spirits, except for Jill's whining and Jack's bad leg. Either way, they traveled through places from Forget-Me-Not Valley to Mineral Town.

Spring was approaching them as they felt the cold wind begin to get warmer. Jill and Jack smiled at each other as they continued to walk down the dirt road. Their faces beamed as they saw a giant wooden board that read "Welcome to Flower Bud Town." Jill fell back a bit as Jack felt his knees wobble. Both twins landed on the ground in a near dead faint.

"We…we did it, Jilly," Jack said as he let out a pant. "See? I told you if we walked for twelve hours straight, we'd make it."

"Yeah…" Jill replied as she panted, "however, next time we'll have to come up with a better plan so we don't get so tired."

"We have to get up. We're so close yet so far."

"I'm too tired to move…why don't we stay here on the ground?"

"Jill…it's about to be night time. New Years Day is about to finish."

At that moment, both their stomachs began to growl loudly.

"We need food!" Jill whined.

"We need a home first," Jack said. "Now, come on! We need to find the mayor. I hope with the amount of money we have left we can afford to get a somewhat decent home."

Jack wobbled a bit as he slowly got up on his two feet. Jill was still on the floor, not wanting to move. Jack scoffed a bit as he lifted up his sister up on her feet. Both wobbled as they walked down the now stone path. Eventually the twins had reached the town square. Their eyes almost popped out from their heads as they saw quite a feast before them.

Their mouths began to salivate as they tried to walk over to the food. Both soon fell down to the ground in a dead faint. All during that time, the townspeople were beginning to take down everything and put the food away. A young woman with long blue hair managed to see the twins on the ground. She quickly walked over to the mayor and began to inform him about the two unidentified characters which laid on the ground.

Jack opened his eyes to see that he was no longer outside on the ground but inside of a building. He was lying on a soft, white bed. In front of him was a white curtain in which divided whatever medical room it was in half. He looked over to his left to see his sister on the other bed, dead asleep. Jack slowly sat up. He shook his head a bit, as he tried to remember what happened.

"Man…my head is hurting right now." Jack let out softly. "I feel like I feel on concrete."

"Stone to be exact," corrected a voice from Jack's right.

Jack looked over to see a young man who looked a bit older than he did. He had short, jet black hair and a pair of ebony eyes. His clothing consisted of a dark green button up shirt, which had a black tie that hung from his neck. The pair of dark colored pants almost covered his black shoes. The young man pulled out a pen from his long white lab coat and began to write things on the clipboard he had been carrying in his hands.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

"Oh, pardon me," the young man said, "my name is Alex and I'm the doctor of this town. Maria, the mayor's daughter found both you and your wife unconscious on the ground."

"Oh…hey! Jill's not my wife! She's my twin!"

"Oh, my apologies. I knew that you two are related since you both looked alike. Anyway, I just had to let you both rest here for a bit until you feel better."

"Wait!" Jack said as he clung onto Alex's coat. "I need to see Theodore. Jill and I were looking for him because of the Exciting Ranch Plan. We need a place to stay."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that for tonight," Alex replied as he smiled, "you both can stay here until you heal up."

"No, no, I'm fine!" Jack got out of bed. "See? I'm fine! Please…I just need to talk to the mayor so we can get a house. I don't want it to be that there are no more available and we end up on the street again."

"On the street again?" Alex let out a sigh before he smiled at the young, eager brunette. "Fine, I'll call on Theodore to come and see you. I was on my way out since there was an emergency that needs my assistance. You stay here and rest while the mayor gets here. Oh and one more thing, make sure to eat something. Often when you fatigue it is because of lack of food, water, and rest."

"Yeah…I'll keep that in mind."

Alex excused himself as he walked out from the infirmary and out into the night. Jack sat on his bed. He looked over at his sister who was still fast asleep. He stretched out his arm and began to poke her. Jill just let out a snort then rolled over. Jack just rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening caught his attention. A figure walked through the doorway and to the patient's room. The man was the same man that was on the flyer.

"Well, howdy there!" the man said as he smiled at Jack. "It's good of you to visit. I'm Theodore, the mayor of this village. It's a pleasure to meet you. My daughter, Maria, found both of you passed out close to the town square."

"Oh, so you're actually the mayor of Flower Bud Town?" Jack asked as he pointed a finger at the mayor."

"Yes, but don't point at me, it's rather rude. So what's your name again? I don't think we've got ourselves acquainted."

"My name is Jack," Jack replied. He pointed at Jill. "And that's my sister, Jill."

"Oh yes, it's Jack and Jill right?"

"Yes…you heard that right…Jack and Jill," Jack said with an annoyed tone. "We've heard almost all the jokes regarding that."

"Ha, ha, I'm sorry," the mayor chuckled, "Either way, aside from such names, I need you to look at three lots for me. I heard from Alex that you wanted to see me about the Exciting Ranch Plan. First, chose a lot and a house from the following."

The mayor pulled out from his pockets several packets of paper plus a bundle of pictures. Jack looked at the stack of papers for a bit. He got off from his bed and woke up his sister. His sister was not amused by this, but soon changed her outlook when she saw the stack of papers and pictures. Each stack was in threes. One of the places read "village center: Not a lot of space, but convenient." Another one read "ocean side: The land is spacious but not fertile." The last one read "river side: Convenient for fishing but…"

The Village Center was a very small piece of land. However, Jill did like the idea of being surrounded by everything in town. Jack looked at the Ocean Side and really liked the idea of such a huge piece of property not to mention the peace and quiet one can have. Both twins squealed in delight as they looked at where they wanted to live.

"This one!" They both shouted as they raised their preferable home. Jack and Jill stopped and saw that the other didn't agree with the other.

"This piece of land is good! It's convenient and we can go anywhere plus we're surrounded by people!" Jill shouted.

"Ugh! That's too noisy! This piece of land is so spacious and we can plant so many things here and we're away from the noise!" Jack insisted.

"What if there's a burglar or a murderer? We don't have that many neighbors around us!"

"The chances of a place getting robbed would be in a crowded area!"

After much arguing, the mayor didn't know what to do. He sat on the nearby chair and waited for them to come to a conclusion. After fifteen minutes, the twins came to a conclusion. The third option would be the best.

"We must live…" Jill said.

"…on River Side." Jack finished her sentence.

"Wha?!" Theodore said. "Fine, it is your property now, just sign the packet that says 'River Side' on it and with a fee, it will be yours."

Jack picked up the River Side packet and began to read the pages. It wasn't much to read except for boring details about what you can do and what you can't do on a property. Theodore gave Jack a pen from his pocket. Jack looked over at where to sign and signed his name. He passed the papers over to Jill and she signed as well. They handed over the packet to the mayor as well as a fee.

"All right!" Theodore said as he picked up all the paper work. "Now you're both all set! Oh, a word of advice: it's best to find out how to work on the farm by talking to the villager. I don't want to start off by saying too much, but please don't forget this. Please be careful not to throw things away on property other than your own. I'd like to register the name of your ranch so please pick a name for your place."

"Hmm," Jill said, "what should we name it?"

"I don't know," Jack replied, "I'm never good with names."

"How about the Jack and Jill farm?" Theodore asked. "Or maybe the 'Went up the Hill' farm?"

"No!" Jack and Jill growled.

"Ha, ha, ha! Just joking…please don't kill me."

Jill and Jack thought about that one really hard. They had no idea on what to name a farm. It took them a while, but soon a couple of names came to them. One of them was their last name and the other was the name of their old hometown. Finally one name did pop into their head that didn't want to leave them. Jack and Jill smiled at each other.

"You thinking…" Jack said.

"…what I'm thinking?" Jill asked.

"I believe so! Mayor Theodore, the name of our ranch will be the Annabel Ranch. We named it after our mother."

"Uh huh," Theodore said as he wrote the name down on the contract packet, "that's a good name. It's all ready late today, so please rest. I'll show you to your house. If you're well enough, follow me."

The twins got out from the infirmary and followed Mayor Theodore out. It was all ready dark as many of the citizens of the town had left their lights on. The twins looked around at how pretty the town was. Unlike the city the had lived in for a while, this place had a softer, and calmer tone. The lovely sakura trees were blossoming in the early spring days.

As they walked over to their small house, the building in front of them had a visitor looking at them. A young woman with short, brown hair and sparkling brown eyes looked out from the window of her home. She had a yellow and orange dress with a white apron and brown shoes. She looked over at fascination at the newcomers.

"Hey Ellen," said a voice from behind the girl, "what are you doing?"

"Oh, Dad!" Ellen replied as she smiled at her father. "I see that we have newcomers."

"Oh?"

The man approached Ellen. He had a friendly, happy-go-lucky smile on his face which showed his buck teeth. He had been balding as his entire forehead as well as part of his head had his brown hair falling out. His attire was a red button up shirt with a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots. He wore his cowboy hat by the string which it hung from.

"Are they the ones that fainted at the town square?" the father asked.

"Yes, they are," Ellen replied.

"Apparently they are ranchers too. It seems we might have some rivalry, eh, Blue?"

"Tch, whatever," replied Blue.

Leaning against the door was a young man with short blond hair and icy cold blue eyes. Covering his blond hair was a blue cap which had the initials "USI" on them. He wore a checkered, red shirt with a black undershirt. His blue jeans were held together by a black belt while his boots were almost covered by his pants. He let out a slight scoff.

"What's wrong, Blue?" Ellen asked. "A bit jealous of the new competition?"

"Feh, as if," Blue scoffed, "I give those city slickers about a week before they give up and leave this town."

"Aww. Anyway, what if they do make it? Anyway, the boy is quite a cutie and his sister is cute too. Maybe you and she could get acquainted."

"Ellen, stop trying to be matchmaker with me. You've already tried that with Nina and it didn't work. Anyway, just go give them whatever present you wanted to give them and stop prying into my personal life."

Ellen just giggled as she walked over to Blue and began to playfully tease him. Blue just growled a bit at his cousin's teasing, but since she was his only cousin, he allowed it for now. Hank just chuckled a bit as he took a sip from his drink that he had in his hand.

Meanwhile, outside, the twins and the mayor had arrived at the destination. It was a rickety, old wooden house that seemed to be in somewhat mediocre shape. It looked so dark and lonely from the outside. Jill didn't like how this was going, but she couldn't complain about it for sure. It could have been a lot worse.

"This is a used house and all ready has most of the items such as a bed, a fridge, a television, tools, and many more," Theodore said as he unlocked the door. He gave the keys over to Jack. "If you'd like, please rearrange them later. The tool box also holds basic tools, so it'd be a good idea to put them in a rucksack. There's a lumber shed behind the house. There's also a mailbox and a shipping box."

"Wow, thanks Mayor Theodore!" Jack exclaimed as he smiled widely.

"Well then ….good luck." Theodore said as he waved to the twins goodbye before he left.

Jack and Jill walked inside to see their new home. It was quite small and very cramped up, even for the two of them. The bed was quite a small bed which it appeared that only one person could sleep on it. There was a small kitchen with a knife set and a sink on the right side of the house. A small pink television was kept on top of wooden boxes. In the middle of the home was a wooden table. On the left side of the house were a shelf and a refrigerator. Jill walked over to the calendar that was hanging on the wall.

"Hey," she said, "this calendar is quite recent. In fact, it's perfectly new."

"Odd," Jack said. "All of this stuff looks like it had been hardly used. Do you think the previous owner must have given up and left from the Exciting Ranch Plan?"

"Or maybe…" Jill whimpered as she felt a dead shiver, "this place was built over an Indian burial ground and it's haunted!"

"Knock it off, Jill!" Jack shouted. "First off, even if it was built on top of an Indian burial ground, there is no such thing as…"

A loud tap had cut off Jack's sentence. Both twins embraced each other as their hairs stood on end. They looked over to see where the noise was coming from. Apparently one of the windows of the house was left open and the wind managed to move it. Jack, let out a sigh of relief as he walked over to the window and closed it.

"See?" He said. "There is no such things as ghosts, you scaredy cat."

"Oh yeah?" Jill replied. "Then why did you hug me so tightly?"

"I-I…was doing it so that you would feel secure after all, it is up to the brother to protect his sister from everything, even her childish fears."

"Liar!" Jill shouted as she threw the rucksack at Jack. The rucksack managed to hit Jack square in the face. "First off, I'm older than you! I was born three and a half minutes before you. Next, my fears aren't childish, you brat!"

"Okay…" Jack replied as he took the rucksack away from his face. "Anyway, let's go to sleep, okay? We have a big day tomorrow and we have to learn how to plant things."

"I hate doing such work; it's not right for a lady to do menial labor."

"Shut up! You're such a lazy bum!"

"And you're such a slave driven bum!"

"Anyway, we should get to sleep…so I suggest we take turns sleeping on the bed."

"Sounds good," Jill responded.

"I go first!" Jack replied.

"H-hey! Wait a minute!"

"Good night, Jill," Jack said as he got under the bed covers.

"Oh, no you don't!"

Jill jumped on the bed, knocking Jack off from the bed with the covers. Jill took off her boots and pried the covers away from him. Jack got back on the bed and tried to push Jill off from the bed. Both twins continued to fighting until finally they made a truce about sharing the bed. However, it was still too cramped up.

"We need a bigger bed," Jill said flatly.

"We will…" Jack replied, "when we get more money."

"Night."

"Night."

Both twins fell asleep that night. They felt a bit happier, except for the fact that the bed was so tiny. That night, the twins had a strange dream…

_Ah, first chapter finished! I hope you guys really liked it so far. Anyway, my co-writer and I have been RPGing our way with this story, in hopes to actually come up with a good plot. Till next time! _


	2. Chapter 2

_Yay! Chapter two is now up! I hope you guys will enjoy chapter two! More characters are introduced! _

**Magical Melody of Life**

**Chapter Two: New in Town**

_"_People...have forgotten how to appreciate," a young woman with long violet colored haired had said to three little elves. Her purple eyes that had once sparkled with joy only sparkled with tears that fell down her cheeks. Her dress was silky and beautifully long. _Who is this person? _"They all have forgotten kind thoughts...the heart to believe...the heart to love once more...and my existence." _I don't know why...but she reminds me of Mom._ "Good bye...everyone."

With one last tear trailing down her cheek, the young woman glowed brightly. The light engulfed the entire area. Once the light had died down, the three little elves looked in shock to see what stood in front of them. The beautiful woman was now a stone statue of her former self. She no longer smiled nor laughed. The little elves began to cry at the loss of their dear friend. Just then, a lone figure walked up to them. It was a young man with short purple hair and blue eyes. He had a cowboy hat which was off to one side. His stripped shirt had complimentary colors on it. His pants were a dark blue color.

"What happened?" he said as he approached the grove. His eyes trailed down from the woman to the ground. "What did she turn into? Don't worry! I'll get you back to normal, I promise!"

A loud crow managed to wake up Jack from his sleep. Jack looked at what he was holding in his arms. Apparently he managed to hold his sister in his sleep. Once this information sank in, Jack shivered and recoiled his hands in disgust. He placed his feet on the ground and shook his head trying to stay awake._ Man, what a strange dream, _he thought. _What was that about? And more importantly who were those guys? _A small scratching sound disrupted Jack from his thoughts. He looked over at his front door to see three small shadows. _Must be some kitties. _

Jack got out from his bed and walked over to the front door. He placed a hand on the doorknob and opened the door. The brunette boy looked down on the ground; expecting to find kitties, but instead he saw something he certainly was not expecting. His brown eyes opened widely as he saw three little elves right in front of his door. One elf wore red, another one wore blue, and the last one wore yellow. More importantly, the elves looked exactly like the three elves that were from his dream.

Jack rubbed his eyes in disbelieve. He let out a yawn as he finished rubbing his eyes. _I must still be dreaming or something because I see elves in front of me. _He thought. The three little elves looked up at Jack with almost the same disbelieve that he had. For a moment, all of their eyes interlocked with each other. When reality hit them, it had hit them hard.

"Yaahhh!" Jack let out as he jumped away from the doorstep. "Wh-what are you?!"

"You can see us?!" the little red elf let out.

"Of course I can see you! You have to be blind not to see you!"

"It's been a while since someone could see us, yeah," the blue colored elf said.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked as he squatted down to the ground.

"We don't appear to people. Usually only people with pure hearts and good intentions can see us or hear us for that matter. You must be special."

"Man...I must still be asleep or something," Jack said as he placed his hands in his hair.

"Oh no, you're pretty much awake right now," the red one said.

"Jill! Wake up, Jill!"

Jack turned around to see his sister's sleeping figure still on the bed. Her back was turned on him. Jack snarled a bit and yelled for his sister some more. All Jill did was just move her hand a bit, advising Jack that she needed more time to sleep. Jack glared at his sister. He looked around him to see if there was anything to throw at her. Luckily he found a shoe. He smirked a bit before he took aim and threw the shoe at his sister. It was a direct hit to her head, which caused the girl to fall off the bed.

"Ow! You jerk!" Jill shouted as she rose from the bed. She had the shoe in her hand and took aim at Jack. "I was in the middle of my beauty sleep!"

"But Jill..." Jack replied as he ducked from the incoming shoe. "Get over here! You have to see this!"

"The only thing I'm going to see in this shoe right up in your face!"

Jill moved from behind the bed. She took a hold of one of her shoes and stomped over to Jack. She growled a bit raising the shoe over her head. Jack winced a bit at his sister before he began to take a couple of steps behind him. Jill arrived at the doorstep and glared at Jack.

"Well?" She let out. "What did you want me to see?"

"Look!" Jack shouted as he pointed to the ground. "Don't you see them? The little elves?!"

"Are you nuts or something? Elves don't exist!"

"They do! Just look at them!"

Jill let out a scoff at her brother. She rolled her eyes and looked towards the ground. At first she just looked back at her brother and growled but a moment later, her eyes glared back at the ground. Her soft brown eyes opened widely as she looked at not one but three little elves. Her rubbed her eyes before she stared down at the ground again. Slowly, she looked over at her brother.

"They exist..." she let out before she fainted.

"Jill!" Jack let out as he knelt down next to his sister.

"She's not used to seeing such things, ya?" Arthur, the red little elf, asked.

"We have a favor to ask you, ya!" Carlos, the yellow elf, replied.

Jill slowly had opened her eyes. She examined the area where she currently was. She wasn't in her rickety home, but rather in what seemed to be an enchanted forest. Her fingers played around with the green grass as she slowly began to sit up. Next to the brunette was her brother. Jack had been sitting down looking over at a small cliff. A tiny little pool of water ran underneath the cliffs.

"Jack!" Jill let out as she took a hold of her brother's arm.

"Jill, you're awake!" Jack said as he turned to his sister.

"Where are we?"

"You're in the Goddess Spring, ya!" said Billy, the blue elf.

"This...isn't a dream?" Jill replied as she placed a hand through her brown locks. "Those elves and this place actually exists!"

"Dream?" Jack said as he took a hold of his sister's arms. "You had this dream too?"

"If its a dream about three elves talking to a woman who turned into stone, then yes."

"What was that...?"

"You must be talking about the Harvest Goddess," Arthur said as he pointed to the stone figure that stood at the opposite cliff. "Something happened to her."

"She has been turned into stone about a year ago," Billy said.

"I want you to help her and return the Harvest Goddess back to her former self, yeah!" Carlos shouted.

"How do we do that?" Jack asked as he scratched his head.

"There was once something that the Goddess said to us," Arthur said as he closed his eyes. "She once told us that only music would be able to revive her soul in her time of need. But not any song would bring her back. A magical melody is to be played to her but only the music of unity can bring her back. When people learn how to love, care, and respect the land, then the magical melody can be played to her. The instruments that are needed to be played to her are created only when two people share a strong bond."

"So...we need to get these instruments and play a song for her?" Jill asked.

"Yes...but there are a hundred notes that make up this song," Billy said.

"A hundred notes?!"

"Yeah!" Carlos replied. "However, in order to get the instruments and notes you have to make friends and such. It is said that only one of a pure heart who learns how to appreciate the earth and help others to appreciate it as well can be able to free the goddess."

"I guess you found another person that can see you as well?" A voice echoed through the spring. "I suggest you give up now."

The twins as well as the elves looked over to the only entrance and exit of the spring. Walking out from the darkness was a young man with short lavender haired and sparkling blue eyes. He wore a ranch hat that was on sideways. His shirt was stripped with many different colors that complimented each other. Jack and Jill let out a small gasp as they both realized that this man was the same man from their dreams.

"Jamie!" Arthur squeaked as he jumped up. "We found others that can see us too. Now you guys can work together to free the Harvest Goddess."

Even though the tiny elves were smiling at Jamie, he wasn't smiling at them. Instead, Jamie let out a death glare at the tiny elves. The elves' smiles soon died down to a frown as they noticed that their "chosen one" wasn't going to cooperate with their new "chosen ones". Jamie looked over at the twins. He snorted a bit as he thought that this was some sort of a joke.

"Stop bugging me already," the purple haired man replied. "I don't need your help and I definitely don't need their help. The Harvest Goddess got turned like that because of humans! Selfish and ungrateful humans that only care about themselves. These two are just as selfish as they are. They're ignorant, ungrateful, and stupid just like the rest of them."

"Just hold it right there!" Jill shouted as she glared at Jamie. "Who are you to say such things to people you don't know, you stupid jerk! We will help the Goddess with or without your help! You'll see! Jack and I will totally beat you to the punchline of this."

Jamie's blue eyes widen a bit before they half closed. He let out a smirk.

"Heh, you talk pretty big," Jamie replied, "you might have spunk but you're far the dumbest person I met. You think this is some kind of competition? I suggest you both leave this place and forget about the Harvest Goddess. I'll be the one who will revive her, not some ignore two bit pair of twins like you."

"Why you..."

"Please, stop!" Arthur said. "The Harvest Goddess told us to get along with people. Jamie, you should be able to get along with others. You and your sister."

"Heh, me get along with them?" Jamie scoffed. "That's very laughable. Listen, I don't care what you elves do. You go on and do whatever you want, but my sister and I will save the Goddess. That is a promise I say to you."

Jamie glared at the tiny elves before he looked over at the twins once more. He smirked at Jill before he walked out from the spring and disappeared from the spring. Jill let out a glare before her face redden like crazy. She felt such anger rise up from that boy she just met. _Oh, that jerk, _she thought, _who does he think he is?_

"Oh, don't be mad at Jamie," Carlos said as he jumped right in front of Jack and Jill. "He's had it rough ever since the Harvest Goddess became like this."

"But he shouldn't be a jerk!" Jill growled.

"I know, but if you get to know Jamie, you might like him," Arthur said. "He isn't a bad person."

"We have a gift for both of you, yeah!" Billy said as he took out a small pedometer. "This is a pedometer. I hope you guys like it. If you talk a lot with the pedometer you might feel a bit of satisfaction in your work."

"A pedometer?" Jack asked as he took a hold of the small contraption. "Thanks for the gift...I guess. Well, we better be going. We have a lot to do since our new lives start anew."

"Take care of yourselves!" Carlos said. "Please...help others to learn how to appreciate their lives!"

Jack and Jill got up from the grass and headed towards the exit. They turned to face the tiny elves and waved to them good bye. The tiny elves jumped up in glee as they saw their new friends leave the spring. It was a while before they managed to get back to their house. They walk through a mountainous region until they had reach the town once more. Once they got to their house, Jack opened the door to house. Right before he went inside a small finger tapped his shoulder.

"Hi!" A cute, youthful voice spoke from behind the twins. "You must be the new ranchers that signed up for the Exciting Ranch Plan, right?"

Jack and Jill turned around to meet with a pair of playful brown eyes. A young woman with short brown hair stood in front of them. Her yellow blouse and dark orange skirt was covered by a white apron. In her arms was a small puppy with a red bandanna tied around its neck. The puppy looked over at the twins and began to wag its tail at them.

"Yeah, we're the twins that are new here," Jack replied. "Who are you?"

"Oh! I'm your new neighbor, Ellen!" Ellen replied with a cheerful smile. Its nice to meet you. I came out here to give you a friendly cheer. I also bring you a gift that I hope you'll like. However, I know that it might be a little too soon for it." Ellen lifted up the puppy a bit higher to her face. "I have a favor to ask you. This puppy was born on our ranch, the Blue Sky Ranch. We sold the litter away, but this one, unfortunately was not taken. He's been lonely for a while and I was wondering if you'd like to have this little puppy. I'm sure he'd be happier here."

"A puppy?" Jack asked as he looked at the puppy. "I don't know...we haven't even..."

"Oh! He's so cute!" Jill squealed as she began to pet the puppy. The tiny, brown puppy let out a happy yelp as it began to lick Jill's fingers. "Oh, look at that! He likes me! Of course we'll keep him!"

"You will?" Ellen asked. "Oh! I'm so happy! Thank you! Why don't you think of a name for him?"

"Wait a minute!" Jack shouted. "I didn't..."

"Oh! I know the perfect name for him!" Jill squealed as she took a hold of the puppy. "His name will be Scraps!"

"Scraps?! What kind of a name is that?" Jack asked as he placed his hands on his hips. "And I didn't say it was okay for you to have a..."

"Isn't that great, Scraps?" Ellen said as she scratched the puppy behind his ears. "You get to live in a good home now. You should come and visit our Blue Sky Ranch. You have to meet you brother and cousin!"

"Sounds great!" Jill exclaimed. "I'd so come over as soon as I settle down!"

"Great! I can't wait! Bye now!"

"Doesn't my opinion count?" Jack asked as he stood unamused.

Ellen smiled at the twins before she walked back to the Blue Sky Ranch. She waved to them before she opened the door to her home and walked inside. Jill smiled as she walked inside of her house. Jack let out a sigh before he followed his sister and closed the door behind them. Jill placed the puppy on the wooden floor of their house. She smiled as she began to scratch the puppy's belly.

"How do you expect us to feed that thing?" Jack asked.

"We can manage," Jill replied. "Besides, we always wanted a puppy."

"Um, correction. YOU always wanted a puppy. I never did like dogs or any animals for that matter." Jack retorted as he pointed at his sister.

"Don't listen to him, Scraps," Jill said as she picked up the puppy. "Jack likes animals, its just that animals don't like Jack."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Jack said as he let out a firm look. "Anyway, leave the puppy here. We should go off and try to get materials so we can start farming."

"Aww...but I wanted to play with the puppy."

"Now."

"Fine...you're such a killjoy." Jill retorted as she got up from the wooden floor and walked out from the house. Jack followed suit and closed the door behind them.

"Okay," he said. "I think it will be better if we split up and walk in different directions. I think I'll head in the direction of the Blue Sky Ranch and you head down the bridge. We'll continue walking in a circle until we meet again in at our house. During that time we try to look for any resources whatsoever on farming and whatnot. We have to start as soon as we can so we can be able to make some money and..."

By that time, Jill had left her brother talking and walked down the bridge. Jack let out a sigh as he shook his head and walked over in the direction of the Blue Sky Ranch. Standing in front of the Blue Sky Ranch was a blond man. A cap with the words "USI" echoed into Jack's mind as curiosity hit him. Even though his eyes were a lively shade of blue they were icy and pierced through anyone's soul. His attire consisted of a red checkered shirt with a black undershirt that was neatly tucked into his jeans. His gloved hands were resting inside of his pockets. Jack smiled a bit as he walked over to the young man.

"Hi!" Jack said with a friendly tone of voice.

The young man didn't reply. All he did was just glare at Jack.

"Um..my name is Jack!" Jack extended his hand to the young blond in hopes that he would shake his hand.

The blond didn't even flinch a bit. All he did was just stare back at Jack, not wanting to move from that spot. Jack's smile soon melted down into a nervous frown as he slowly moved his hand away from the the other man. He shifted his leg nervously as he tried to think of a way to start a conversation with this man.

"Um...I'm here for the Exciting Ranch Plan," Jack continued. "You probably heard of it. I'm from a small town but I worked at a city for a while, so I guess I'm a city folk person, huh? Eh heh, heh, he..."

The blond still wasn't amused by this at all.

"Ahem!" Jack cleared his throat. "I can't wait to start on my farm soon. I'll be sure to do the best I can to really make it work and who knows...perhaps I might even call this place home..."

"Don't you ever do anything besides talk?" the blond retorted.

"Wow you can talk!"

Upon hearing that comment, the blond man narrowed his eyes.

"Oh!" Jack let out. "Not that you didn't know how to talk from the beginning and all. I mean even for a country person you can be educated and all. I mean I'm not saying that all country people are illiterate and such, which they aren't but..."

"Hush up." the blond stated flatly.

"Yes sir."

"Listen...I don't care who you are or where you came from. City folk and country folk alike come here every season trying to start a farm here and they all fail miserably. What really gets to me is that all of you newcomers have no drive to work and always ruin it for the hardworking people of this town. I am sick of looking at the faces of those that don't care for this place."

"Oh, but I do care about this place. I mean just give me some time and I'll get used to it. I'm sure of it. Now if you excuse me I want to see Ellen."

When the name Ellen had came out from the tip of Jack's tongue, the blond's eyes widen a bit. He placed a firm hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack winced at how strong the other man's grip was.

"You don't know her and now you're trying to woo her like all those other scumbags?" the blond growled.

"No! I'm not trying to pick her up! I just want to be friends with her. She gave me a puppy..." Jack responded.

"I don't care if she gave you the whole world. You better not try to do anything to her like those others have. I don't want to see her have another heartbreak again, do you understand me?!"

"Y-yes...you're...hurting me."

The blond released Jack's shoulder. His angry face soon faded away into a neutral one.

"One piece of advice to you, city slicker," the blond said. "If you can't handle the pressure of waking up before the sun rises and work your butt off all day to grow plants or raise animals, you better leave now before it gets out of hand. You'll only waist your and our times."

And with that, the blond walked away from the young brunette twin. He walked over a fence and jumped over the pegged fence. He disappeared into the rather large grass. Jack felt a bit weirded out by the entire thing. _I don't think this guy likes me, _he thought. _Most likely I better avoid him at all costs. _He shook his head before he looked over at the building that stood to the side of the pegged fence.

He opened the door the house and walked inside. The inside of the Blue Sky Ranch seemed more like a cozy little house than anything else. The square tile that was on the floor was a plain, white type. There were two long counters which had on their surfaces a lot of ranching products such as eggs and milk.

Standing behind the main counter was a middle aged man who was balding. The remaining hair he had on his head was a light brown color, similar to Ellen's hair. His clothing consisted of a red button up shirt with a bandanna wrapped around his neck. His blue jeans were somewhat dirty much like his cowboy boots. The man smiled revealing that he was buck tooth.

"Well howdy there, partner!" Hank chirped. "Can we interest you in anything?"

"Um...I came here because Ellen invited me over," Jack responded.

"Ellen?" The man walked out from behind the counter to take a good look at Jack. "Hmm...no shirt, dirty overalls, shoes that are falling apart, and a cap worn backwards. I'd say you're more here to woo Ellen than anything else. Listen here, sonny, my daughter is a very hard working person and I don't need a jobless person trying to..."

"Oh...you came?" Ellen said as she poked her head from the kitchen. Ellen quickly walked out from the kitchen and smiled at Jack. "Welcome to the Blue Sky Ranch!"

"You know this person, Ellen?" the man asked.

"Yes Dad, this is the new guy that came for the Exciting Ranch Plan."

"Excuse me a minute," the man replied. He leaned over to Jack and examined his face. "Say...you don't look familiar. For a minute there I thought you were...never mind that. I'm sorry for mistaking you for someone. Anyway, you're the one from that Exciting Ranch whatever thing, right?"

"Y-yeah," Jack replied as he felt very uncomfortable around the man.

"That's right!" Ellen chirped. "His name is Jack and he's taking care of the puppy for us."

"You don't say," the middle aged man replied as he extended his hand. "The name's Hank. Nice to meet ya!"

"N-nice to meet you too," Jack replied as he shook Hank's hand.

Ellen looked at how nervous Jack was. She let out a small frown before she smiled warmly at him.

"Our store handles items that are animal related such as milk and eggs." Ellen took out a dozen of eggs and showed them to Jack. "Behind our store is our little ranch. In the mornings you'll usually see a guy outside handling the animals. That's my cousin Blue."

"Your cousin?" Jack let out a weird look. "Was he a blond with blue eyes, a cap, and dirty clothes?"

"Yes, that's him. Have you two met?"

"Yes...but I don't think he likes me very much," Jack replied flatly.

"Oh that Blue...I told him...never mind. He's very...protective of me. Not to mention he doesn't trust anyone that much, but once you get to know him, he's quite a sweetheart and a fine fellow. Just give him some time to get to know you. I'm sure the both of you will be good friends."

"Right...friends. Anyway, I should be going now. I have to figure out where's what in this town." Jack began to walk towards the door.

"Oh wait!" Ellen called out as she quickly rushed behind the counter and searched frantically for something. After a while of looking around, she found the item that she was looking for. She quickly picked it up and handed it over to Jack. Jack saw the tiny blue notebook with the picture of animals on it. He took a hold of the small notebook and looked confused at Ellen.

"What's this for?" Jack asked as he scratched his brown hair.

"That's an animal notebook," Ellen replied. "This is basically a manual for first time ranchers. If you ever have a barn or a chicken coop you can buy animals from our ranch."

"Keep that notebook with you at all time," Hank replied. "And remember, if you ever need some help, we are willing to help you out."

"Thanks," Jack replied as he placed the notebook in his backpack. "I'll be sure to come here in case we need help."

"Don't be shy to come and visit us, even if its a friendly visit," Ellen responded with a smile on her face.

"I'll be sure to visit you, Ellen."

Ellen let out a small blush on her face. Jack didn't notice it as he turned his back on her and walked to the front door. He opened it and led himself out.

While that was going on, Jill had embarked on her own little quest to look around the town. She looked over at the dozens of trees in front of her. _Man, this place is totally forested, _she thought. _Almost as if we were living like animals in a forest itself. There doesn't seem to be anything fun to do. _Jill let out a sigh as she walked through the forested area instead of walking down the dirt path. As she came to a clearing she saw a rather large two story house. Curiosity got the best of her as she opened the door to the house.

Once inside Jill admired the plain wood decorations that covered the house. Sawdust covered the floor like crazy. A faint scent of lacquer filled the air. At the very end of the house was a counter which behind it was an old man. His snowy white hair covered most of his neck and was held together by a green headband. His white beard was trimmed rather nicely. He fixed his red shirt and tidied his dark colored pants.

"Hmm?" he let out as he spotted Jill. "I haven't seen you before. You must be the new person from the Exciting Ranch Plan."

"Yeah!" Jill replied. "My name is Jill. Both my brother and I came here. What is this place?"

"I see..." the old man replied. "My name is Woody and we're carpenters. I live here with my two apprentices. We build a lot of things out of lumber from tables to remolding houses and such. If you ever need anything, just come and ask us anything."

"Um...okay."

"By the way you should meet them now. Hey you two!" Woody shouted.

Woody's voice echoed through the house. A loud thump was heard from the upstairs bedrooms. A young man walked out from the kitchen in a calmly matter. His chestnut colored eyes were calm and rather serene looking. His brown locks were spiked up in a crazy matter and were held together by a camouflage headband. Even though he had a dark colored sleeveless shirt his muscles were rather exposed a bit. He wasn't buff, but rather lean for a young man. He placed his gloved hands into the pockets of his camouflage pants.

_Oh wow, _Jill thought as she looked at the young man, _he's rather hot looking. _Suddenly the man was knocked down by another young man. This man was younger looking than the previous one but he still looked like him. Just like the previous man, he had brown eyes and brown. The only difference in his appearance was that instead of serenity and calm being show in his eyes, youthfulness and cheerfulness leaked from them.

His hair was down and it brushed a bit past his neck. The younger man wore a blue bandanna that was decorated in white stars. He was a bit built like the previous man but he didn't show off his muscles. Instead his wore a long sleeved stripped shirt with a brown open vest over the shirt. His blue jeans were rather messy along with his sneakers. _Oh my, _Jill thought as she looked at the younger man. _He is quite cute though a bit on the klutzy side._

"Get off of me," the older man hissed.

"I'm sorry about that, brother," the younger man replied as he quickly got up. "I thought Woody was going to really scowl at me if I arrived late for another project."

"You should have hurried in the bathroom. You don't need to fix much of your hair anyway."

"Perhaps if you didn't spend so much time making breakfast you would..."

"Enough!" Woody said as he let out a sigh. He placed a hand on his forehead as he massaged it. "I summoned you two so you can meet the new rancher."

"Great...another one?" the older man let out.

"Now, now," Woody whispered as he walked over to both men. He brought them close to him in a huddle. "Listen now...this one is actually a cute girl. Sure probably not as hot as the previous girl, but she sure seems like a suitable one. You two aren't getting any younger so I suggest you find yourself a wife. This one seems to be okay."

"You've got to be kidding me," the older man whispered. "This is why you called us? To see this 'potential wife' person? Forget it!"

"Calm down Kurt. You really need to take the time to see the flowers instead of just admiring the wood in nature. Anyway, your brother, Joe always seem to be happy to see a new person."

"Of course he is...he's gotten tired of me ignoring him when he blabs his mouth off."

"Hey!" Joe, the younger man, hissed. "That isn't very nice. I have feelings too, you know! And for one thing I really can strike a conversation with anyone I want and for sure I can get people to like me a lot!"

Kurt just rolled his eyes as he tried to block out Joe's rantings. Woody just shook his head as he bumped both boys' heads together.

"Now, keep it together!" Woody whispered. "She is a woman and a rancher. She maybe our future number one customer so we have to keep everything at a professional level here!"

"If its professional then why are you asking us about our love lives?" Kurt asked as he rubbed his head.

"Because I worry about you two. You're like...the sons I never had."

"You had one three sons and one daughter and one of your sons had a granddaughter called Gwen. She used to be our playmate, remember?"

"Oh, now you're the smart guy, huh?" Woody asked. "Fine, if there are anymore questions, then lets..."

"Hey, I have a question: why are whispering?" Jill asked as she was now part of the huddle by being in between of Kurt and Joe.

All three let out a scream as they jumped back from Jill.

"W-when did you get in our huddle?" Woody asked.

"Not too long ago," Jill said.

"Why did you get in our huddle?"

"I wanted to be part of the huddle. I felt left out."

"Oy..." Woody said as he shook his head. "Anyway Jill, let me introduce you to my apprentices." Woody took a hold of Joe. "This young man is Joe. He is the younger of the two apprentices and probably the most naive. He may not be as sharp as nails, but he can sure whittle and build.

"Hey!" Joe smiled as he waved his hand at Jill.

"Hey," Jill replied.

"My name is Joe and this over here is my older brother, Kurt," Joe said as he pointed at Kurt.

"What's up?" Kurt asked as he stood a bit stoic.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Jill asked in a playful tone.

Kurt let out a snort before he looked away from Jill.

"Anyway, my apprentices are started out just like you," Woody said. "Get to know them better. I'm sure you can be friends with them."

"Okay!" Jill chirped. "I'll be sure to know them."

"Wow, this is so cool!" Joe said as walked over to Jill. "We're both newbies when it comes to our profession and all. Since we're barely starting out, we should stick together! How about it?"

"Sure!" Jill replied. "It be fun to have a guy friend around especially a cute one!"

"C-cute?" Joe responded as he let out a blush. "Wow... I sure do like it when girls speak out their minds."

"You kids go off and have fun then," Kurt replied as he hit the back of Joe's head. "Us, grown ups have to work you know?"

"Oh really?" Jill asked as he walked right in front of Kurt with her arms folded. "And who are you to say such things? Or maybe its because I haven't said anything about what I think about you?"

"Heh...like I'd like to know," Kurt retorted.

"I think you do. I think you're cute too."

"Please...every girl says that a guy's cute all the time."

"Oh? Then I suggest I'll have to say something else then." Jill extended her right hand and stuck out her index finger. "I'm going to cast a spell on you. You're going to like me. You're going to like me. You're going to like me...did it work?"

"You...really amuse yourself, don't you?" Kurt asked as he stood stoic.

"Heh, you really are serious. Oh well...guess I better go and look around some more." Jill turned around and headed towards the door. She winked at Joe before she headed towards the door. She opened it but before she walked out she took one last glance at the boys.

"Thanks for inviting me in, Woody," Jill said. "Good bye sir, Joe...and Kurt-boy." The young brunette girl walked out from the workshop.

"She's...something isn't she?" Joe asked as he stood a bit dazed.

"Yeah...a real pain in the neck," Kurt replied.

"Oh come on...don't you think she's cute?"

"Women that are loud aren't cute for me."

"Ah Kurt, you're no fun."

_I'm so sorry for not updating in the longest time. I have made a promise to update once a month. However due to my lack of updating I have to make two this month. Anyway, I'll try to keep that word. Reason why I haven't updated is because of school and since finals were up for me. It was horrible. Thank you for waiting, those that do wait for me. _


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